The Morning After
by AppleLass
Summary: A little Jo/Zane fic set after Season 4 Episode 9. Jo wakes up the morning after a wild night and must deal with Zane and his need for answers.


Disclaimer: I do not own Eureka nor the characters.

A/N: This is a little vignette taken from after episode 9 season 4. Jo/Zane goodness, avoiding Zoe messiness. Also, a tiny nod to the recently departed mathematician Dr. Mandelbrot.

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Jo woke, momentarily disoriented. She was not at her place, nor at Carter's. There was a large Mandelbrot fractal print on the wall, and at the sight her heart skipped a beat. It was the same one Zane had on his wall. She turned her head and found, not a foot from her face, Zane. Watching her. For an instant she let herself believe that the timeline had been reset and this was where she belonged... but the reality of last night hit her like a punch to the gut.

They had celebrated the victory of the Viper 2.0 anti-missile system testing with drinks at Cafe Diem... a lot of drinks at Cafe Diem. It had just seemed natural at the time. They were laughing and flirting, like they used to.

Jo had not even intended to be around him much, but they had started off in a large group with Fargo and Allison, including some other scientists from the project. One by one the rest had left, until it was only Jo and Zane. Something she had not realized until Vincent started shooing them out.

"Morning, Sunshine." Zane said, reaching forward and moving a piece of her loose hair off of her cheek. "You feeling okay? You had quite a lot to drink last night."

What had she done? More importantly, what had she said? It was crucial that Zane not know about how she and the others had violated time travel protocols. Could she cover it up, or avoid talking about it more?

"Yeah, yeah... I'm fine." She needed to get out of there. Jo gathered the sheet up around her and looked around for her clothing. She was definitely not wearing at any the moment.

"By the door," he offered. "Your clothes are probably by the door. Want to stay for breakfast?"

"I shouldn't. I should get back to work for... work."

"JoJo... it's Saturday."

"Right. I'm sure there's work to do there on a Saturday." She moved in to the living room and found a trail of clothing - both hers and Zane's, all the way to the front door. She smiled a little remembering. They had been hot last night, on fire just from touching each other. She had known that what she was doing was would not end well... but she just could not keep her hands to herself.

She picked up her clothing and moved in to the bathroom to put them on. Neither one of them had been sober enough to drive, so they had decided to share a cab. It had just made sense to both go to Zane's.

When Jo was clothed again, she decided she would grab a bite before she left. She would only feel worse if she went to work on an empty stomach. Zane's bedroom door was still closed; he probably had fallen back asleep. She pulled a spoon out of the cupboard and ice cream out of the freezer. Rocky Road had always been their favorite post-sex snack, and it was a habit Jo missed. Not that she had been getting any of either recently. She dug straight in to the carton.

"I see you found the spoons?"

Zane stood in the doorway, and belatedly Jo realized she should have tried to pretend not to know where he kept his dishes. Zane put his silverware up in one of the cabinets next to his cereal.

"Uh... yeah."

"And my ice cream!" he said in mock annoyance. He wore only a pair of blue plaid pajamas, and Jo had the urge to drag him and his beautiful abs back in to the bedroom. She knew that was probably not a good idea at this point. For all she knew, he was regretting everything about last night.

He sauntered over to where she stood guiltily by the freezer and took the spoon out of her hand. He dug out a bite for himself and regarded her curiously.

"You talk in your sleep, you know that JoJo?"

"I do not," she replied defensively.

"Listen, I get that you can't talk about whatever this is. And that sucks. But you can at least talk about us."

"There's nothing to talk about," she bluffed.

Zane gave her a look that clearly expressed his skepticism on the matter, and took the ice cream from her hand so he could get another bite. "Jo, you know where I keep the silverware. And last night, when you were sleeping... well, you said some things in your sleep."

"I'm sure I was just dreaming-"

"You said you loved me, Jo. And if you do, or at least if you did, I don't understand why you're fighting me so much on this."

There he was, everything she had realized she wanted, standing in front of her wearing pajamas and eating ice cream. And she still could not tell him. "I should really go, Zane."

"Which will be hard without your car. I'll take you back, after we talk."

"I'd rather walk." Jo started putting her hair up into a ponytail. This would not be her first walk back to her car after a night out. First one in Eureka, though.

"Come on, Jo. Stop running away. What are you afraid of? That I won't care for you as much as I used to?"

Jo glared at him, but in the end she knew he would be relentless. She she took back the ice cream and spoon, and went out in to the living room. She curled up on one corner of the couch and took a few bites before she started. "I... did love you, Zane. And the thing is, you loved me back. I know it may seem hard to believe-"

"Not really." He sat down on the sofa next to her, but at the other end, giving her space. "I've been crazy about your forever. It's probably why I antagonized you so much." He grinned sheepishly. "So we actually worked out?"

Jo stuck the spoon into the ice cream and handed it over to him. She crossed her arms tightly before she spoke again. "Yeah. It wasn't always easy. Sometimes I would get mad at something stupid you'd say, or sometimes one of us would end up almost dying."

"Sounds like life was a lot more exciting," he smiled.

She shrugged. "Somehow we always worked things out. You never gave up on us." She smiled sadly.

"So why did you give up on me? Did you think of this as a way to start fresh, without the giant mistake you made of dating me?"

"What are you talking about, Zane?"

"I'm talking about us, Jo. You could have tried to, I don't know, if not tell me what was going on, tried to be with me again."

"It's not that easy."

"Look around you! The first time you respond to my advances I take you home. I may have my faults, but I think I know a good thing when I see it. And you and me? I have a feeling we're a really good thing."

"It's so much more complicated than that."

"Maybe, but right now we're just talking about you and me. We can start slow. Or fast - whatever you want. I won't promise not to freak out now and then, but don't you think we deserve a chance, Jo?"

At some point Jo's eyes had begun to tear up, but she managed to give him a watery smile. He put the now empty pint of ice cream on the floor and held out his arms to her. Jo leaned over and rested her head on his bare chest and sighed.

"So, I guess this means we're always that good in bed?"

Jo punched him, but she broke out into a smile anyway. "Is that all you can think about?"

"Well, I've been trying to figure out for years how to get you to go out with me. Now that one of my primary objectives has apparently been completed, and had been for a while though I did not know it, I need something else to occupy my thoughts."

"I'm sorry I made it hard for you to ask me," Jo said in all seriousness. "I know I was difficult at times."

Zane snorted. "Difficult? That's doesn't begin to describe it. They called you G.I. Jo behind your back."

"They?" She lifted one eyebrow.

"Okay, maybe it was just me." She laughed at him. "I'm sorry about the other nickname, though."

"Other one?"

"You know, JoJo. The one I started calling to your face."

"I actually don't mind that one. As long as you're the only one who gets to call me that."

"Right. Ixnay on changing your name plate at work."

Only she had been planning her name plate. Maybe not her first name, but she had occasionally wondered if she might change her last name had she and Zane...

He must have noticed the humor draining from her face. "I'm sorry, Jo. For what you've lost. But maybe we can start over?"

Jo tried to smile again. It was a decent effort. "I think I'd like that." She stuck out her hand. "Jo Lupo, Chief of Security at Global Dynamics."

Zane shook her hand. "Zane Donovan, Global Dynamics employee, felon."

"Former felon," she corrected.

"Well, about that nameplate..."

She could not decide if she should kiss him or punch him, so she did both.

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End file.
